"Keep running!" Hunter kept ordering all three of his companions. Krystle felt drenched in sweat, she squeezed her eyes and shook her head twice to shake off the sweat dripping down her eyes.

She turned her head back to see everyone running behind her as well. Her eyes widened when she spotted the grisly 'dinoceros' catching up to them. Those were one of the most menacing creatures that roamed the southern territory of the continent.

They appeared a couple of decades ago and have not been encountered by many, so it was hard to know how to obliterate them or get away from them without dying. They were a combination between a large reptile and a heavyset mammal with two upright horns on its snout. It had dark brown and red skin and almost no hair.

That was not the disturbing part. It was its facial features that disturbed her the most. It had two leopard eyes; one was entirely black while the other one was red. A small snout that had no tip, only its nostrils could be seen as if it were a skull. Its mouth opened so wide, that it tore off at the sides and a long lizard tongue flew out trying to anchor itself onto one of the young adults running away from it.

"Everyone, hide!" Viatrix, Hunter's sister cried as they entered a construction area. There were many enclosed cargo wagons dispersed around the large field. Everyone ran in different directions, hopefully, it would be easier to distract the dinoceros. Krystle did her best to hold in her ragged breathing as a feeling of dread filled her.

She peeked gingerly from one corner and saw her brother, Luca, hiding with Viatrix. A sigh of relief left her lips when she saw they weren't being followed by the monster. Her eyes squinted as she looked for Hunter, wondering where he had hidden. To no avail, she turned around and with muted steps, she got to the other side of the wagon. She saw Hunter crouching and already looking where she was.

She was startled at his penetrating gaze but recovered quickly. He nodded at her once and pointed his two fingers from his chest toward her. He was going to move to where she was hiding. It would be a bold move considering the creature had distracted itself with a dead animal that was half-eaten near the wagon where her brother was hiding. They both seemed to take a deep breath at the same time, her nerves were making her shaky with anticipation.

One.

Two.

He ran forward before she counted to three, leaving her bewildered and flustered as he neared her until they were a few inches apart.

"Are you alright, your highness?" Hunter whispered, not wanting to attract attention to themselves. Krystle nodded and took a small step back; the small space felt a bit discomforting. She gulped down her alarm and turned her back to him after seeing he was alright, not a single scratch on him just as it should be. He was not here as my guard and convoy for nothing.

His father was the King's general that led his army out into war, while Hunter was part of that army, which he recently joined. Viatrix was a rare gem who had proven to have what it takes to serve the King in battle. She trained all her life along with Hunter to aid their father and prevail without failures.

They were both still young in their mid-twenties, but their lower ranks did not stop them from befriending the kind princess. Krystle was not denied their friendship when they were kids, but rather the opposite. King Theron indulged his children to prepare for combat. A royal must always be prepared so their enemy does not surprise them and they're useless in battle.

Viatrix and Luca were bickering about something inaudible, most likely how they would cross the ten-meter distance from the princess and Hunter. The dinoceros was nowhere to be seen. Panic immediately rose inside her as she frantically ran her eyes back and forth between the wagons to see where it had gone to.

Agitatedly, she turned around to tell Hunter but before she could say anything, she saw the creature behind them and with a high-pitched squeal, it threw itself at them. They both covered their ears, the echo vibrated all over their bodies to the inside their heads. Hunter reacted hastily and knocked them out of the way before the dinoceros caused any harm to them.

Hunter helped the princess up and the two hidden people came out to join them. The creature squealed again and this time both Luca and Krystle joined their hands. Before the atrocious creature stopped wailing, the siblings raised their free hands toward it and froze the creature, stopping its awful cry midway.

Hunter and Viatrix nodded at each other as if they could read each other's thoughts. In a matter of seconds, they both ran in opposite directions, surrounding the frozen beast. Krystle didn't even see when they had drawn their swords until the statue shattered into hundreds of ice fragments.

Everyone exhaled in alleviation, taking deep breaths from what just happened.

"Well, good thing it was just one, or else="

Squeal

Not too far away we could hear another, and then another beast call onto each other. They must have been called by the one we killed here. Sweat formed on the temples of her forehead as she heard the cries of the creatures. Those things were bigger than they had been told. It was almost two meters tall and it looked quite heavy.

They all looked at each other in silence. They knew they stood no chance if they were ambushed by a group of those things. Krystle notices everyone's breath came out with difficulty, foreboding silence could only be heard then.

"Let's get out of here before more of those beasts appear." Luca couldn't have said anything more agreeable than that. If they kept staying there, the creatures would attack them at any moment.

"There should be a cave somewhere near here." Hunter took out the map that had been guiding them until then. Everyone gathered around him to take a closer look and they saw they were closer to their destiny.

"It's just past that cave. We should be safe there. Let's go." Viatrix had commander blood in her, that's why she was in charge of a group of new recruits. Krystle admired her leadership and loyalty to our kingdom. She was proud of having her as a friend and not as an enemy.

They all sprinted toward the direction the map pointed them to. There was a mountain near them and in a matter of minutes, they arrived. They were heaving by the time they reached the base of the mountain.

"Let's split and look for the entrance." Krystle choked as she tried to catch her breath. Everyone just nodded and separated to look. They had been traveling since the day before. The sunset was past its peak, meaning it would be nighttime very soon. They managed to get this far in two days, considering they were coming from the far North, this was quite a long distance by foot.

"Found it!" Luca called everyone to go to him with galvanization in his voice. When everyone reached him, he was already removing the doorway which to their surprise was a meter wide.

Squeal

The scream made everyone turn around and didn't have time to recover from the surprise when the two dinoceros attacked, throwing everyone against the mountain rocks. Luca was the only one who ended up inside the cave. The rest had a hard time to re-collect due to the impact they received. It knocked the air out of their systems, making it almost impossible to breathe properly.

Hunter got up regardless, he was stifling, but he had one goal, and that was to protect the prince and princess at all costs. Viatrix was already getting up as well, they both went to aid the princess who was still on the ground groaning. Luca stood in front of them and created an ice barrier between them and the creatures. Hunter immediately picked Krystle up while Viatrix and Luca were running to the inside of the cave.

At that time, the barrier exploded, making Hunter leap into the dark cave. He let go of the princess, making her fall to the rocky ground with a painful thud. While Hunter deciphered what had happened, prince Luca and Viatrix pushed the rock back in place, sealing the cave from the outside.